


Summer Nights

by sanctum_c



Series: Tifa Week 2018 [1]
Category: Final Fantasy VII
Genre: Birthday, Birthday Cake, Birthday Fluff, Birthday Presents, Food, Gen, Honest, I cannot stress this enough, Musicals, Self-Sacrifice, Theatre, but there the similarities end, even given the title of the thing is 'Summer Nights', the musical is TOTALLY NOT GREASE, which I may have gotten from Grease
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-22
Updated: 2019-11-19
Packaged: 2020-12-28 15:02:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,863
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21138626
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sanctum_c/pseuds/sanctum_c
Summary: The one slim positive to Sephiroth attacking Tifa at the Nibelheim reactor and her transportation there via unexplained and unknown vectors, is the unexpected opportunity to watch her favourite musical live on stage.





	1. Summer Nights

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written for the prompt 'Favorite Scene'

The first production of Summer Nights Tifa experienced was an amateur (though not amateurish) rendition on the town hall stage back in Nibelheim. Back when her Mom was still alive. Mom confided it was one of her favorite shows, certain (correctly) Tifa would enjoy the experience. More than a few aspects of the play - the implications, double-meanings and so on - flew straight over Tifa’s head for years. In some ways it was shocking to look back and reflect on how much of an adult nature the production had.

But at the time she had not cared, and Mom did not seem concerned. They walked home after the applause faded, Tifa singing fractured chunks of lyrics, her mother joining in with the rest of the line when Tifa’s memory faltered. One of the last happy memories Tifa had; soon after Mom received her diagnosis. Serious, but she had a chance still – Mom was firm about that, though her father seemed less certain about the outcome. Mom started treatment, but her illness overwhelmed her shockingly fast, robbing her of energy, mobility and consciousness. Until the dark day father came home, his expression sombre and informed Tifa of the tragedy.

Not something she wanted to dwell on. Nor did she wish to believe there was still nothing she could do. One of the numerous factors leading to her ill-advised scaling of Mount Nibel, her fall and subsequent coma. The missed time did little for the raw hollowness after the loss, but the passage of years eventually did. The pain and sorrow faded but it was some time before Tifa could listen to Summer Nights without the memories of Mom overwhelming her and reducing her to tears. She clung to the happy memory of Mom; the better times before.

She sang along to the songs – father got hold of a cast recording from some big production in the East and Tifa listened to it endlessly. He found her the piano score and she would use that to practice piano. She had posters, a shaky VHS copy of a filmed version recorded off of the TV, a few different cast recordings. All lost when Sephiroth came to town.

* * *

Going to a big musical production was the last thing on Tifa’s mind in Midgar. Learning to live here where everything was so different; a city that never slept – and one in which monsters lurked with near impunity. Where Shinra ruled despite the nominal presentation of power held by democratically elected officials. Where the Upper plates loomed above the slums and cast them into perpetual night. She had to survive and wanted her revenge. A relief to find like-minded friends here; the starts of Avalanche operating out of the basement of her bar.

A year or two after her awakening (so many questions remained about the mechanics of her trip here. But no one willing, or perhaps able, to articulate an answer), and to her amazement Jessie hummed the title track of Summer Nights.

“Are… are you humming Summer Nights?”

Jessie glanced around at her as she helped clean off the tables. “Huh? Oh, yeah.” She smiled. “One of my favorites.”

“Mine too.” Tifa joined in for the next few lines. “I saw it back home once. Loved it ever since.”

“Been popular for years.” Jessie nodded her head towards the ceiling. “Got to see it up there once.” She pointed to the roof.

“Up-“ Tifa blinked at her. “On the Upper Plate?”

“Oh, yeah. It’s been running for years over in Sector Four up there. Back when things were a little better, my mom took me.” Jessie’s expression darkened. “Long while ago now.”

She had to know. Had to see. The next chance she got, Tifa caught the train up to Sector Four and explored. Getting up here was pricey enough she never bothered. Sector Four; where the Upper plate denizens came for entertainment. Streets crowded with theatres covered in bright lights. So many Tifa had only glimpsed on TV or heard snatches of the music from. And there, half-way down, was a theatre showing Summer Nights. Hard to fight off the temptation, hard to not take a break from everything to go and see it done once more, recapture something like the time with her mother years before.

But the cost was absurd; a single ticket could keep Avalanche in food for a week. To waste so much money on something so frivolous- She lurked near the theatre, ears strained, listening for any stray notes from the score. The audible bits and pieces nothing like the same. She retreated to the slums and tried to put the knowledge out of her mind.

And so it might have remained until her birthday. Jessie baked a cake, Wedge and Biggs decorated the Seventh Heaven- And Marlene gave her a present; a white envelope with a card inside. Not much money to spare – and most would go to Marlene’s birthdays and anything else Barret’s daughter would need. Tifa thanked her and opened the card. Inside was a ticket for Summer Nights.

“Wha-“ Tifa gaped at it.

“Happy Birthday!” Marlene smiled at her.

Tifa stared from the ticket to each of her friends in turn. “How did-“ She broke off. “How much-“

“We pooled our money.” Jessie glanced at the rest of Avalanche. “I knew how much you liked it and there was no way you would ever pay for it yourself so-” She grinned. “Happy Birthday!” The others echoed Jessie. Tifa thanked them as profusely as she could – it did not seem remotely sufficient recompense for such a gift.

The side-effects of Avalanche’s generosity became clear in the week after in the run-up to the night of the show. Tifa would go alone; affording one ticket was difficult enough. She tried to back out, to offer it to Jessie instead but she and the others insisted. The food budget was severely impacted forcing bad deals in Sector Seven and beyond.

She had some idea of the cost of the ticket of course, but it was not clear until she was on the train to the Upper plate – in the best dress she owned – how much Avalanche had spent. Not in the stalls; she was up on one of the balconies. She thought about turning back several times; as soon as she left the Seventh Heaven. At the station. On the train. When she reached Sector Four. But outside the theatre she made her choice. She would love to watch Summer Nights again. But it would never be the same as the time she saw it with Mom.

Ticket touts stood on the sidewalk hawking other tickets to the show; the prices they were asking- One last look at the theatre and Tifa chimed in with her own calls. The ticket sold after an agonising thirty minutes of trying for twice what it was worth. Tifa wandered back to the station, increasingly confident she had made the right choice.


	2. Birthday with Friends

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written for the prompt 'Happy Birthday Tifa!'

Tifa lingered at the doorway to the Seventh Heaven. Jessie was taking care of the bar –Biggs and Wedge ferrying orders to customers around the room. Most of Barret’s attention was on his daughter not far from him, standing on a chair as she scrawled with cheap markers on scrap paper. Normally he would have spotted her long before. She had not made the trek home to change before returning to the bar, not wanting to reduce the time apart from the family she had built here – except for one stop on an assumption for later. Her friends would understand why she had come back. “Hi.”

“Teef?” Barret frowned at her. “Please tell me the trains weren’t running. Not today.”

Tifa shook her head. “No, the trains were running.”

“Show cancelled?” Marlene asked her, marker pen dropped to the table without another thought.

“No, I-“ She swallowed. “It… It didn’t feel right going on my own.”

“You know we don’t mind.” Jessie leant on the bar. “We all agreed to the plan.”

Tifa nodded. “I know, I know. But-“ Deep breath. “I realised I wanted to spend my birthday with all of you.”

Jessie was the first to smile, Biggs and Wedge mimicking her expression. “Flattered, but-“ Biggs shrugged. “Kind of wish you’d told us that earlier. We could have saved money- Ow!” Wedge had tried to nudge him in the ribs.

“Don’t worry about that.” Tifa reached into her bag and withdrew the bundle of gil she obtained for the ticket. “I got the money back.”

“That… is a lot more than I paid for the ticket.” Jessie eyed the gil wonderingly.

“I did well.” Tifa cleared her throat. “In any case, I was thinking of ordering in some take-out and-“ She glanced at Biggs and Wedge. “You two still have that old TV and VCR?”

“Yeah?” Biggs scratched his head.

“Could I persuade you to go get it?”

“Sure?” He and Wedge shared a confused glance. “You want us to bring some tapes with us?”

“Not necessary.” Tifa fished in her bag for her other purchase; a battered copy of the film version of ‘Summer Nights’. Hopefully at least still watchable. “Still like the idea of seeing it, but better with my friends around.”

“You want me to clear the bar?” Barret offered.

"No. The more the merrier." The regulars should be no bother. Biggs and Wedge headed out for the TV after making their orders. Anything went for tonight’s meal. A few pizzas, a selection of Wutainese dishes, and a few different curries. Barret and Marlene wrote out and coloured a small sign to stick in the window proclaiming a special screening of ‘Summer Nights’ in the bar – and they would continue to operate as normal, despite the subdued lighting and the film playing; TV and VCR stacked on top of each other on one end of the bar.

Not the perfect way to watch the film in the slightest; despite Jessie and Bigg’s insistence they would handle all the drink requests, Tifa still pitched in when they were otherwise engaged. She didn’t need to look at the screen. The film was incredibly familiar and she sang along to every song without thinking. Where possible, she and the others sat in the row of chairs set near the bar, picking at the array of food.

Tonight was Barret’s first time seeing the film; he made a minor effort to cover Marlene’s ears and eyes from one or two risqué moments. He gave up after a while; much like Tifa when she was younger, it all went over Marlene’s head. She was far more interested in mimicking the actors dancing on-screen or her own dances during other musical numbers. She grew tired long before the end of the film – and Barret torn between watching the rest of the film and getting his daughter off to bed. In the end he conceded defeat not far from the climax as Marlene dozed off in his arms.

“You can borrow the tape later if you want?” That got a grumble back from him. Tifa grinned and settled back into her chair as the climax played out. This birthday with her family was far better.


End file.
